Frenchwood Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well cared for and safe at this nurturing school. They have positive relationships with their teachers and their classmates.

Pupils enjoy the many calming spaces around the school, such as the pods and the secret garden. They also make good use of the allotment area in which they grow fresh produce such as strawberries.

Pupils told inspectors that occurrences of bullying are rare.

Leaders and staff deal with any fallings-out quickly and effectively so that issues do not spread. However, they are less effective at dealing with some instances of low-level misbehaviour that occur during the school day. In part, this is because some staff do not have h...igh expectations for pupils' conduct.

In some subjects, leaders have high expectation for what pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), should achieve in their learning. Pupils are beginning to achieve well in these subjects. However, in other subjects, pupils' achievement is not as strong as it should be.

This is also true for children in the early years. This is because leaders have not developed some curriculums well enough to help pupils build their knowledge securely from the Nursery class through to Year 6.

Pupils enjoy the opportunities that they have to develop their talents and interests.

They spoke positively about the cookery club as well as the various sports clubs and tournaments that leaders organise for them.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have broadly outlined what pupils should learn. In some subjects, leaders have designed or adopted curriculums that clearly set out the important knowledge that pupils will be taught.

However, since the last inspection, leaders have not done enough to make sure that this is the case in some other subjects and in the early years. In these areas of the curriculum, teachers are unclear about what knowledge they should teach. This occasionally leads to teachers designing activities that do not help pupils to learn the knowledge that they need.

In these curriculum areas, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. In addition, some children in the early years are not ready to access the key stage 1 curriculum.

Teachers use strategies to assess what pupils have learned.

They often provide helpful guidance for pupils. This is more the case when teachers are clearer about the specific knowledge that they are expected to help pupils to learn.

Some subject leaders have not improved their expertise sufficiently since the last inspection.

Leaders are still at the early stages of developing systems that will help them to check how well teachers are delivering curriculum content. This means that some leaders are not well equipped to evaluate the quality of their curriculums. This includes in the early years.

In turn, this hinders leaders from addressing the weaknesses in curriculum design and delivery that are preventing pupils from acquiring the knowledge that they need.

Leaders have implemented clear systems to identify pupils with potential SEND. They make sure that these pupils have their needs assessed quickly.

Leaders make sure that staff have a clear understanding of how to meet the individual needs of each pupil with SEND.

Leaders promote a love of reading. They have carefully considered the class novels that they read to pupils so that they experience the works of different authors.

Leaders ensure that children learn phonics as soon as they join the school in the Reception Year. Staff are sufficiently trained and typically deliver the phonics programme well. Most pupils read books that are well matched to the sounds that they know.

Pupils who struggle with learning new sounds get additional support that helps them to read more fluently.

Leaders provide for pupils' personal development well. Pupils develop an impressive knowledge of mental and physical well-being.

For example, pupils could talk at length about how parts of the brain, such as the amygdala, contribute to emotional responses in different situations. Pupils have opportunities to develop their leadership skills through school council groups. They are respectful of people's differences.

They appreciate the additional experiences that leaders organise to enhance the curriculum. These experiences include trips to places such as a car museum as part of a history study.

Most pupils behave well.

However, some pupils do not conduct themselves as sensibly as they should. This includes when they move around the school. This sometimes causes disruption to pupils' learning.

A small number of staff do not routinely put a stop to such low-level misbehaviour. These issues are mirrored in the early years classes, where some children rush around in a precarious manner that some staff do not deal with.

A considerable number of pupils do not attend school regularly.

For some of these pupils, leaders do all that they can to remove the barriers that are preventing regular attendance. However, this is not the case for some other pupils who also do not attend as often as they should. This means that these pupils continue to miss out on some of their learning.

Governors understand their responsibilities. They carry out their duties appropriately. Staff value leaders' and governors' consideration of their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff and governors are well trained in their safeguarding duties. Staff are vigilant to the signs that might indicate a concern about a pupil's welfare.

They know how to raise their concerns and do so in a timely manner. Leaders take appropriate action as soon as they are alerted to any safeguarding issues. Leaders work well with other agencies to provide additional support for vulnerable pupils and their families.

Pupils learn how to stay safe online and when using the internet. They understand how to protect their online identify. For example, they could explain how to keep their online accounts secure through strong passwords.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some subject curriculums, and the curriculum in the early years, are not designed well. Consequently, teachers are sometimes unclear about what to teach. In turn, they sometimes design learning activities that are not effective in helping pupils to learn what they should.

Leaders should complete the design of these curriculums. They should also provide teachers with guidance on how to teach these curriculums well. ? A few subject leaders lack expertise.

They are not able to carry out effective checks on how well teachers deliver curriculums, including in the early years. This means that weaknesses in curriculum design and delivery that have an impact on pupils' achievement are not being addressed. Leaders should equip subject leaders with the knowledge, skills and systems that they need to contribute towards improving pupils' achievement.

• Some staff do not consistently uphold high expectations for behaviour. At times, this means that pupils experience low-level disruption to lessons and misbehaviour around the school that go unchecked. Leaders should ensure that staff raise their expectations of pupils' conduct and deal with misbehaviour effectively when it occurs.

• A considerable number of pupils do not attend school regularly. This means that they frequently miss out on some of their learning. Leaders should review their systems and actions to remove the barriers that prevent these pupils from attending school as often as they should.